88 88. Worry

It's been just one month since snow started falling, but the depth of snow was still doable.

The tribes chose to station between the town and the village, cleaning the road often.

Shu Ya was looking at the bunch of meat that was presented to her and nodded. "Accept it all. Bring me the cooks and all servants, I have a new task for them."

As soon the tribes came back, she exchanged meat for rice and dried vegetables for a good price. With that been said, she gathered enough meat to feed not one town, then two or even three.

She didn't mind. Tribal people didn't have money, so exchange fitted them. They left only so many animals, how much food they could afford over the long winter and rest exchanged for proper food.

This is the first time someone ever offered them really good prices. Usually, they would get only a fraction of the amount. And with that, they would barely survive.

But this year was different. Happy children rushed around and played happily in the snow and even Shu Ya chose to join in.

Wen Delun stood nearby and sighed. "We all forget that she is a child, not only official. But she shouldn't get too excited. Her illness is not healed. Mingli, please stop her."

From all the people, she trusted most of her four personal guards. So when they remind her of certain things from time to time, she just accepts it.

Qiang Ka pressed his lips as he saw Mingli respectfully bowing towards Shu Ya that had red cheeks and almost blue lips from coldness. He knew that the four guards were not only guards in her eyes. She accepted them as part of the family and cared about them.

He should be actually happy that she had these four people protecting her wholeheartedly. But jealousy is a strange thing. He wanted that she would care about him just the same.

Suddenly he was hit from behind. "Idiot. You must learn to hide your thoughts. She loves you as a real brother. If she has four more brothers to protect her, isn't it good? What are you jealous of?"

Ying Ka came suddenly a couple of days ago from the capital with news for everyone about the Emperor's worsening condition. So Shen Zihao packed his bag and went back in mid of the biggest storm. Luckily the storm slowed down after a day, so he could successfully enter the last ship that went down the river.

But things looked bad. The Emperor was not old, but stress in the government and stress inside the Palace made him get sick.

Ying Ka chose to stay as Wen Delun planned to leave her side as well soon. The snow stopped so he wanted to leave with dog sleds towards his home. But where his home is, he never explained.

Wen Delun could see Ying Ka's gaze on him and let a sigh out. That young man was calm and poised in front of everyone. But he could clearly feel the danger floating from his pores.

With that, he felt sure about this child's safety. With all these people protecting her, she should be safe for a while. Right?

"I'm leaving tomorrow. The weather will be cold for a while and snow won't fall for at least a week or two. If I don't leave now, I will really be stuck here by the next snowfall. But things look bad at home. Please be good to this child. One day I will come back to see her again. I must." He spoke in air, but everyone could hear him and felt pressure coming out of his body.